Oh my God. Eric, that rant was so unbelievaby offensive I don't even know what to say. Don't you think you're generalizing quite a bit? Do you really think all women behave this way and are stuck in some persecution complex world? You obviously have a lot to learn.

"That’s right, folks, it’s gonna be a Meg episode, stick around for the fun.
Here’s the clicker...no one’d blame ya.”

Yes, Eric has very strong preconceived notions about many things. It's how he makes order of his world. His strong views comfort him. Always take him with a grain of salt, and try to smile along with his rants. Don't take him too seriously, and you'll be happier. That's what I do, anyhow. We haven't been able to bring ourselves to ban him, though perhaps we should (it's certainly been discussed, with dissenting votes). He's a lunatic, but he's our lunatic.

On the other hand, while I hate to defend Eric, part of what he started to say has truth, in that producers and director's do tend to "program" their shows according to preconceived notions of gender roles.

And, men and women are different. Not to say that Eric's view is correct, but a female Who would certainly have a different feel to it. And I share his disdain of trying to turn Who into a romance. Still, it could be interesting to see a Lady Who. If our Doctor is last of the Time Lords, then how about a Time Lady?

Randall wrote:Still, it could be interesting to see a Lady Who. If our Doctor is last of the Time Lords, then how about a Time Lady?

At one point, the press was so on their "Progressive Re-Imagining" roll, they asked the producer whether we WOULD see a female spin on "Sherlock", along with their questions of time travel or whether Cumberbatch's Sherlock would meet the Doctor. So much though I'd like to say I was making up that example....

When the press discussion came around to the idea of Lady Who, the topic also came up, hey, if we can't have a lady Doctor, wouldn't a female-regenerated Master--the Mistress?--be, like, bunches a'neato too?
And not one person brought up the Seventh Doctor and the Rani. That's the sort of amnesia we're dealing with once the revisionists get on a roll. They don't know what came before them, and they don't care, just so long as they thought up something New.

Randall wrote:On the other hand, while I hate to defend Eric, part of what he started to say has truth, in that producers and director's do tend to "program" their shows according to preconceived notions of gender roles.

And, men and women are different. Not to say that Eric's view is correct, but a female Who would certainly have a different feel to it. And I share his disdain of trying to turn Who into a romance.

If you went back to 1965 Britain and told them that the Doctor and the Companion were going to be a hot romance for twentysomething audiences, they'd laugh and spray their tea. To them, it would be like discussing the sexual tension on Roland Rat.
I'm not saying Britons are right in their snobby retro-deconstruction view that Who:Classic was a "kids show" for "Ten-yo.'s at teatime hiding behind the couch from Daleks", but in the best sense, that's where it started: Susan, the young mod teen, and Ian & Barbara, the understanding youngish teachers we wished we had at our school, were who we were supposed to root for, and the Doctor was originally going to be an elusive Dr. Smith-like antagonist. That's why the best Companions were orphans, or, like Tegan and Peri, at least funny inexperienced "sparring partners" that had no hope of a romantic fling except for the witty bantering--The adventure was for kids, and kids didn't want a "season-arc relationship", they wanted to hide from Daleks, and see the Doctor save the day with his sonic screwdriver.

Of course, if you were to tell Britain TODAY that it was supposed to be a hot hip romance, they'd believe you, and go into big fangirl discussions about River Song. Because now we have the BBC that's trying to pile on "Hollywood-style" CGI effects, air Star Trek:TNG reruns, and turn their network into the CW with an accent.
But in the old days, it was costumes on soundstages, and that what made it real to kids, like you were watching a stage play of the Doctor. We have teens and twenties who've never seen the original thinking the new show is for "them", and you have UK viewers thinking they've conquered the "embarrassing" cheapness of the Classic series, but in the process, we've all grabbed it for ourselves and kicked everyone else out. And that's losing the quality of what the show should be.

If it sounds "sexist" to say that fangirls are only watching the New Series for the "hot romance", well, COULD you show them a Tom Baker & Leela, or a Sylvester McCoy & Ace--or even William Hartnell--and have it hold their interest? Or with they kick in with the snobby deconstruction, because it wasn't they show they weaned themselves on?
(I'll grant that the Paul McGann movie was leaning toward the "romance" angle, but it still stayed relatively true to the Classic "cute American sparring-partner" style, back in the days before Davies first gayed it up.)

Randall wrote:He's a lunatic, but he's our lunatic

(Hey, if you want GeorgeC to come back and do nineteen-paragraph rants about how we should firebomb Warner for every single thing the Suicide Squad movie did wrong, eight YouTube clips attached, regardless of the thread topic, you can go ahead and call him. Your choice.)

There's also the Gallifreyan General regenerating into a woman in "Hell Bent".

I like to think Moffat is trying to warm us to the idea that we may eventually get a female Doctor. Not necessarily as his final mark before taking off, but merely getting us ready to accept it should it happen down the road.

By the by, maybe the thread header should be retitled since it's pretty much the general Doctor Who thread now.

EricJ wrote: (Hey, if you want GeorgeC to come back and do nineteen-paragraph rants about how we should firebomb Warner for every single thing the Suicide Squad movie did wrong, eight YouTube clips attached, regardless of the thread topic, you can go ahead and call him. Your choice.)

Actually, I did like having George around too, and am still in touch with him. If only the two of you could have behaved.

Didn't get a chance to watch it unfortunately (I have Amazon Prime but it only has up to Season 9) but will as soon as I can. Excited! And can't wait to see the Simm Master again! Lol. (Not that I don't like Missy.)

Also I realize I'm pretty behind but finally saw Day of the Doctor yesterday: two words: awe-inspiring! Lol. Really sad that Moffat is leaving. Other than RTD bringing it back he was the best thing that ever happened to that show.
(Oh and of course script editor Christopher H. Bidmead )